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The straw hat is a staple in any summer wardrobe. Not only is it sun smart, but it’s also pretty stylish to boot. Most incarnations of the straw hat involve the classic combination of natural straw and a black ribbon band, either in a fedora or boater style. While you can’t beat a classic, sometimes you’ve just got to inject a bit of colour into your life. Luckily, you can easily give your tired straw hat a complete makeover in just a few short steps. From switching out the ribbon band to the addition of a raffia trim, these are just three colourful ways to update a plain straw hat.

First things first, you need a straw hat. You can get these pretty much anywhere, from secondhand shops to boutiques and everything in between. If the hat comes with a ribbon band attached, remove it before undertaking any of these DIYs. If the ribbon is glued on, blast the band with a hairdryer for a few seconds to melt the glue and then peel it off.

DIY Velvet Ribbon Band

What you need:

– Straw hat

– Around 1m of velvet ribbon, in the colour of your choice

– Scissors

– Glue (a glue gun or regular craft glue is fine)

How To:

1. Measure out and cut enough ribbon to surround the body of the hat. I just did this by wrapping the ribbon around the hat and leaving a little bit extra. Cut a smaller piece to form the bow – the size of which is up to you. Once again, I used my eye to measure rather than a ruler. Then cut a smaller piece of ribbon to wrap around the bow and band.

2. Create the bow by folding the ends of the middle length of ribbon behind themselves, securing at the centre back. Attach this to the longest length of ribbon, with the velvet sides facing up. Take the shortest ribbon band and fold it around the centre of the bow and the longest length of ribbon, securing it at the back with glue.

3. Once dry, wrap the ribbon around the hat, with the bow to the side. Cut off any excess ribbon.

4. Glue the ribbon directly onto the straw hat, with the ends meeting behind the bow for a clean finish. For something less permanent, you could glue the ribbon ends together and slip the ribbon on and off as you see fit.

DIY Pom Pom Band

What You Need:

– Straw hat

– Yarn, in colours of your choice. (Alternatively, you could also use other materials to create the pom poms like raffia, scraps of fabric, or plastic strips.)

– Scissors

How To:

1. Make the pom poms (or you can use store-bought ones). Because I am a bit of a pom pom fanatic, I just happened to have some at the ready. I also have a pom pom maker which makes things much simpler. There are also plenty of online tutorials to help you through the process.

2. If you’re making your own pom poms, make sure you leave a long enough piece of yarn when tying off the pom pom so that you can use this to attach it to the band later.

3. Plait the yarn (or any other materials) to create a band long enough to wrap around the body of the hat.

4. Tie the pom poms to the band, in the arrangement of your choice, with the pom poms to one side of the hat. Then tie the ends of the plaited band together to secure it in place. Alternatively, you could use a wider band and glue the pom poms on.

DIY Raffia Trim

What You Need:

– Straw hat

– Coloured raffia

– Scissors

– Glue

How To:

1. Unravel the raffia so that the band is at its widest (usually around the width of a ruler).

2. Cut three strips of raffia (or more, depending on how thick you want the trim) long enough to surround the edge of the brim of the hat. I once again used my eye, but you can use a measuring tape to be more accurate. Glue the top edges of the raffia together and let dry.

3. Using scissors, cut into the bottom edge of the raffia at 5mm intervals, leaving around 1cm at the top of the band.

4. Working in sections, glue the top of the raffia to the brim of the hat until the entire edge is covered. Trim off any excess and let dry.

——-

And there you have it. Three easy DIY projects that will update your old straw hat in no time at all. I was also looking into dyeing a straw hat as another option but the time and effort that would require kind of put me off. Do you have any other fun ideas for updating a straw hat?

If programming on this blog has slowed down it’s probably because I’m spending all my spare time making pom poms. I’m half joking, half not. Anyway, I acquired these antlers while clearing out my grandmother’s house a few years ago as we needed someone to claim them before my vegan cousin showed up. I put my hand up to hide them in my car and have been custodian ever since. In an attempt to display them I strung up a wooden dowel/fishing line contraption to hang off of a picture rail (scroll down to the last photo to see). The antlers looked a bit plain just hanging against the white wall so I ended up gradually covering them in pom poms (and a tassel). I keep saying that each pom pom will be the last but we’ll see.

^ I’ll eventually get around to painting the dowel white and finding white hooks to complete the floating effect but in the meantime I cbf.

Ever since I bought a pom pom maker, pom pom production has gone up 100% around these parts. Yes, I was just as amazed that such contraptions existed – who knew I had been slumming it making pom poms the hard way all these years? So in my current pom pom making frenzy I decided I’d give making a pom pom key ring a go. This is a relatively simple DIY and making the pom pom is pretty straightforward if you’re using a pom pom maker. If you don’t have one or prefer to make them the old school way then I’d suggest checking out this tutorial by Fancy Free. If your keys need a pom pom flavoured makeover then read on!

What you need:
– Plain key ring (you can just repurpose an old key ring or buy them from eBay/craft shops)
– Yarn
– Pom pom maker (not necessary but they are seriously life changing)
– Scissors

1. Start by tying some yarn to the key ring to create an attachment point for the pom pom. If you’re plaiting the yarn like I am, tie the ends after you’ve reached the desired length so that the plait doesn’t unravel. Leave plenty of yarn at the ends to secure the pom pom later. If your key ring has a longer chain, you could skip this step entirely and just tie the pom pom directly to it.

2. Make the pom pom using whatever method you have access to. If you don’t have a pom pom maker there are plenty of tutorials online. I’ve gone for a two-tone design here but you can create anything from plain to speckled pom poms.

3. Tie the loose pieces of yarn from the key ring around the centre of the pom pom. This not only creates your pom pom but secures it as well.

4. Trim any loose pieces of yarn to create your desired pom pom shape and there you go! A fun key ring to add to your collection. It could also double as a bag charm and you could use the same kind of method to create some pomtastic earrings.

How sweet is this herringbone knitting basket from UncommonGoods? If you aren’t already familiar with UncommonGoods they’re a site that endeavours to feature unique designs and handcrafted gifts that are created with the environment in mind and without harm to animals or people. This fair trade basket is handcrafted by Wolof women in Senegal and is made using strips of plastic either recycled from prayer mats and rugs or purchased new from a Dakar mat factory. When I received this basket I was immediately undone by how big it was. I didn’t have enough yarn to fill it up but I wanted to use it for something other than a laundry or junk basket. After some head-scratching I came up with quick hack so I could still use it to store yarn as well as a few other crafty bits and bobs. You can find more gifts like this from UncommonGoods here, and there’s also a men’s section here.

This is a pretty self-explanatory DIY so I’ll mostly let the pictures to the talking.

This basket was a gift from UncommonGoods. All content and ideas are my own.

I’m a collector, and I’m pretty sure it’s in my DNA to collect minerals or anything that comes from the earth. My grandma had a massive collection of shells and coral, my dad collected rocks (because geology), and I collect all of the shells/coral/crystal things. In most cases they just end up gathering dust on a shelf so I thought I could come up with some other way to put them on display. The end result was this easy quartz-topped container. Perfect for storing an assortment of objects, or maybe even more crystals.

What you’ll need
– Container of your choosing (this was an old Ferrero Rocher container but you can find similar ones at Kmart etc.)
– Crystal (mine is a clear quartz point from Feel Crystals)
– Wire
– Strong glue (I used super glue but you could also use epoxy or other kinds depending on your choice of materials)
– Wire cutting scissors

Method
The process was as simple as wrapping the crystal in wire, securing the wire, and then gluing the crystal to the container. Because the wire on the bottom of the crystal created an uneven surface, gluing was a bit messy but it all worked out in the end. I chose to wrap it in wire to make the clear quartz stand out against the clear container. If you want to save yourself some hassle (and very scratched up hands) just glue the crystal straight onto the container. You’ll want the bond to be strong enough to use the crystal as a handle. I ended up using my container as storage for my lipsticks.

Also, photographing clear things was one of the dumbest ideas I’ve ever had. I pretty much gave up after a while.

This post is in partnership with Feel Crystals. Content and ideas are my own.